Of Gender and Biology

There is a new  article on the America Magazine site discussing a document on the subject of gender theory, issued by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education,  "...which, while containing no new doctrinal elements or developments, seeks to present the Catholic Church’s position on the question in a non-polemical manner and expresses the need to dialogue on the subject."
From the article:


"The text is signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation, respectively, Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi and Archbishop Angelo Vicenzo Zani. But nowhere is it said that Pope Francis has seen or approved the document. This would suggest that the text is meant to serve as a basis for dialogue and discussion for those involved in the field of education and is not meant to be seen as a final answer on this controversial subject."
"...The text explains that “gender theory” expresses an ideology that “denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.”
The America article is short, and worth reading.
I have a few random thoughts on the subject.  I'm not going to give the document a dismissive eye-roll, I think the authors had some valuable thoughts to add.  However, some things are problematic. Starting with, for instance the title; "Male and Female He Created Them". For the continuation of our species, we are divided into male and female.  However, God doesn't micromanage feelings and behavior.  Doubling down on a Genesis reading of anthropology isn't going to convince any skeptics.  It is pretty obvious that much of what we have associated with gender is in fact a construct of culture.  We have progressed in parsing this out; for instance, it is widely accepted now that women can be soldiers and cops, and men can be nurses and librarians.  The same with how we dress.  Women can wear slacks, Scotsmen wear kilts, and clergymen (some of them) wear lace, and the world doesn't come to an end. 
However, there is such a thing as biological reality.  Males and females have different body parts, and our biology is written into each of our cells, in the form of the configuration of our chromosomes.  This affects physiology and psychology.  People can be in denial if they want, but it isn't going to change reality.
Since this document is issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education, I think this part is worth consideration: 
“Catholic educators are called to go beyond all ideological reductionism or homologizing relativism by remaining faithful to their own gospel-based identity, in order to transform positively the challenges of their times into opportunities by following the path of listening, reasoning and proposing the Christian vision, while giving witness by their very presence, and by the consistency of their words and deeds.”
“The culture of dialogue does not in any way contradict the legitimate aspirations of Catholic schools to maintain their own vision of human sexuality, in keeping with the right of families to freely base the education of their children upon an integral anthropology, capable of harmonizing the human person’s physical, psychic and spiritual identity.”